So today, I would like to make you familiar with the word ‘vegan’ and remove the mystery that surrounds it! People often associate rigidity, deprivation, extremism with the word ‘vegan’. When we think about vegan food, we consider it as being something very different than what we have been used to consuming. Yes it is different, in a way that there is no meat, fish or dairy products used. But vegan food is something which we are all familiar with. Foods that are whole and plant based, such as vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. We just don’t label them as ‘vegan’. We don’t say, “it’s a vegan potato”, right? It’s just that potatoes/carrots/bananas/beans/walnuts happen to be vegan.
Vegan food preparations can be very nutritious when based on whole foods plant based ingredients. Now, there are some ‘junk’ vegan foods as well, such as oreo cookies (yes, they are vegan!), potato chips, fritos, sour patch kids candy, air heads candy, red bull energy drink, etc. It is best to stay away from the processed junk foods that only have empty calories and lack nourishing ingredients.
It is very rewarding when I realize that the food that is prepared with love in my kitchen and fed to my family and friends is the food which is very close to mother Earth. There is no destruction or abuse of natural resources, no suffering, violence or exploitation of animals. Peace and compassion is just what our world needs!!
To learn more about veganism, please visit my page ‘Why Veganism?’